[H.A.S.C. No. 113-2] A REVIEW OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY BASIC TRAINING INSTRUCTORS AT LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE

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by  Committee on Armed Services

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[H.A.S.C. No. 113–2]
A REVIEW OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
BY BASIC TRAINING INSTRUCTORS
AT LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
HEARING HELD
JANUARY 23, 2013
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COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON, California, Chairman
MAC THORNBERRY, Texas ADAM SMITH, Washington
WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina LORETTA SANCHEZ, California
J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia MIKE MCINTYRE, North Carolina
JEFF MILLER, Florida ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania
JOE WILSON, South Carolina ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey
FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey SUSAN A. DAVIS, California
ROB BISHOP, Utah JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island
MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington
JOHN KLINE, Minnesota JIM COOPER, Tennessee
MIKE ROGERS, Alabama MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam
TRENT FRANKS, Arizona JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut
BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa
K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts
DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado JOHN GARAMENDI, California
ROBERT J. WITTMAN, Virginia HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., Georgia
DUNCAN HUNTER, California COLLEEN W. HANABUSA, Hawaii
JOHN FLEMING, Louisiana JACKIE SPEIER, California
MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado RON BARBER, Arizona
E. SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia ANDRE´ CARSON, Indiana
CHRISTOPHER P. GIBSON, New York CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire
VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri DANIEL B. MAFFEI, New York
JOSEPH J. HECK, Nevada DEREK KILMER, Washington
JON RUNYAN, New Jersey JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi SCOTT H. PETERS, California
MARTHA ROBY, Alabama WILLIAM L. ENYART, Illinois
MO BROOKS, Alabama PETE P. GALLEGO, Texas
RICHARD B. NUGENT, Florida MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
KRISTI L. NOEM, South Dakota
PAUL COOK, California
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma
BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio
JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana
ROBERT L. SIMMONS II, Staff Director
JEANETTE JAMES, Professional Staff Member
DEBRA WADA, Professional Staff Member
JAMES WEISS, Research Assistant
(II)
C O N T E N T S
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS
2013
Page
HEARING:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013, A Review of Sexual Misconduct by Basic
Training Instructors at Lackland Air Force Base ............................................. 1
APPENDIX:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 ................................................................................ 53
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013
A REVIEW OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY BASIC TRAINING
INSTRUCTORS AT LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck,’’ a Representative from California, Chair-
man, Committee on Armed Services .................................................................. 1
Smith, Hon. Adam, a Representative from Washington, Ranking Member,
Committee on Armed Services ............................................................................ 2
WITNESSES
Lisak, Dr. David, Ph.D., Forensic Consultant ....................................................... 36
McNally, CMSgt Cindy, USAF (Ret.), Service Women’s Action Network ........... 38
Norris, TSgt Jennifer, USAF (Ret.), Protect Our Defenders ................................ 40
Rice, Gen Edward A., Jr., USAF, Commander, Air Education and Training
Command, U.S. Air Force .................................................................................... 4
Welsh, Gen Mark A., III, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force .......................... 4
APPENDIX
PREPAREDSTATEMENTS:
Lisak, Dr. David ............................................................................................... 74
McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ .................................................................... 57
McNally, CMSgt Cindy .................................................................................... 139
Norris, TSgt Jennifer ....................................................................................... 146
Smith, Hon. Adam ............................................................................................ 59
Welsh, Gen Mark A., III, joint with Gen Edward A. Rice, Jr. ...................... 61
DOCUMENTSSUBMITTEDFORTHERECORD:
Letter from Hon. Jackie Speier to Gen Edward A. Rice, Jr., Dated
November 16, 2012 ....................................................................................... 188
Statement of Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness ... 181
WITNESSRESPONSESTOQUESTIONSASKEDDURINGTHEHEARING:
Mrs. Davis ......................................................................................................... 191
Mr. Enyart ........................................................................................................ 191
Ms. Sanchez ...................................................................................................... 191
QUESTIONSSUBMITTEDBYMEMBERSPOSTHEARING:
Mr. Smith .......................................................................................................... 195
(III)
IV
Page
QUESTIONSSUBMITTEDBYMEMBERSPOSTHEARING—Continued
Ms. Speier ......................................................................................................... 201
Ms. Tsongas ...................................................................................................... 200
A REVIEW OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY BASIC TRAIN-
ING INSTRUCTORS AT LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES,
Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 23, 2013.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in room
2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’
McKeon (chairman of the committee) presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. HOWARD P. ‘‘BUCK’’ MCKEON,
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA, CHAIRMAN, COM-
MITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Good morning.
Thank you for joining us for our first hearing of the 113th Con-
gress. I think it is appropriate that we begin our oversight with a
subject that this committee has been vigilant in addressing for
many years. At the same time, I find it extremely disturbing that
despite the collective work of Congress, the Department of Defense,
the military services, and the dedicated groups who advocate on
the part of victims of this heinous crime, sexual assault and sexual
misconduct, remains a problem within our arms forces.
Today we meet to receive testimony on sexual misconduct by
basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base. The events
at Lackland are the most recent example of sexual assaults that
have plagued our military for far too long. This tragic example
where 32 instructors have either been found guilty, have been
charged with, or are still being investigated for crimes against 59
trainees, begs the question: How could this have happened? How
could the system and in particular, the leadership, have failed to
protect the men and women who serve our Nation from sexual
predators who also wear the uniform?
While I applaud the Air Force for pursuing indepth investiga-
tions to find answers to these questions, I am particularly dis-
turbed to learn that there was significant delay reporting the alle-
gations to the proper authorities when they first came to light.
Equally troubling is that no action was taken by local leadership
when the reporting delay was uncovered. This to me, is unaccept-
able.
I look forward to hearing from General Welsh and General Rice
how the Air Force has addressed these issues to eliminate the pos-
sibility that sexual misconduct goes undetected in the future.
Make no mistake, Congress shares the responsibility for pre-
venting sexual assault within the military and assuring victims
that their cases will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
(1)
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Over the past 5 years, Republicans and Democrats have joined
forces to put real reforms in place. We have ensured that victims
of sexual assault are taken seriously, provided medical care and
support, and that cases are investigated and prosecuted.
Last year Congress passed reforms on how the military tracks
sexual assaults in order to paint a reliable picture of just how big
the problem is. We also established a commission to take a critical
look at the Uniform Code of Military Justice and make rec-
ommendations for reform to make certain that the military justice
system can successfully prosecute sexual assault. However, legisla-
tion is not the only answer.
Commanders at every level and at every Service must make
eliminating sexual assault and all forms of sexual misconduct from
their commands the highest of priorities. Senior leaders at all lev-
els must hold commanders accountable for aggressively pursuing
allegations of sexual misconduct. We will accept nothing less.
I understand that the Air Force has already made several
changes to improve the safety and effectiveness of basic training.
I would like to hear from our second panel if the reforms and safe-
guards recently put in place are sufficient. I have no doubt that
there is more to be done. My visit to Lackland in September re-
newed my belief that the young men and women who volunteer to
join our Armed Forces are the finest in the Nation. These young
men and women have earned the respect of the Nation. They de-
serve the respect from their leaders and fellow service members.
Before I ask Ranking Member Smith for his opening remarks I
would like to remind our members that at the same time as we
hold this hearing the Air Force continues to prosecute the remain-
ing cases at Lackland. When military perpetrators of sexual assault
are tried by courts-martial, public statements by military and civil-
ian leaders, especially senior leaders, about the guilt or innocence
of an alleged perpetrator can be perceived as or there may even be
undue command influence on the outcome of the trial. That means
public testimony about Lackland could be used as grounds for a
mistrial by defense attorneys.
This isn’t an outcome anyone wants. To that end, I will give lati-
tude to General Welsh and General Rice to answer questions to the
extent that it will not prejudice ongoing criminal prosecutions. We
are all committed to eradicating sexual assault in our Armed
Forces, but first, we have to respect the victim’s need for urgent
and sure justice.
Mr. Smith.
[The prepared statement of Mr. McKeon can be found in the Ap-
pendix on page 57.]
STATEMENT OF HON. ADAM SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
WASHINGTON, RANKING MEMBER, COMMITTEE ON ARMED
SERVICES
Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I concur in all of your
remarks and I thank you for that strong statement. I too have a
statement which I will submit for the record and just summarize
briefly here.
I thank General Welsh and General Rice for being here and for
the leadership that they have shown on this issue. This obviously
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is a very serious problem. Being able to protect the men and
women who serve in our military is job one. If there is not trust,
if the people who are serving do not trust the people who are sup-
posed to be leading them, then the entire system breaks down. And
sexual assault and sexual violence is a major problem throughout
the military, and I think that is one big point to keep in mind
throughout this hearing. This is not just Lackland. I mean, cer-
tainly, this is an extreme example and one that I hope we can
learn from, one that certainly continues to need to be resolved. The
cases need to be prosecuted. We need to get to the bottom of ex-
actly what happened, but this is a problem that has plagued the
military for far too long, and that we on this committee, and
throughout the military, needs to be addressed in order to make
sure our military can continue to function at the ability that we all
expect it to.
So I thank the chairman for having this hearing. I do want to
thank both General Welsh, General Rice, and Secretary Panetta
and others, and we have had many meetings in the last couple of
years and it is apparent to me that the Department of Defense
takes this issue very seriously and is now trying to do their best
to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. It is completely
unacceptable that we got to this point, that it wasn’t solved before
this, but at least now we are seeing the seriousness from the De-
partment of Defense that I think is warranted.
I also want to thank, there are too many members on this com-
mittee to name who have taken a leadership role on this issue and
trying to make sure that we put the best possible legislation in
place to make the changes necessary to protect our men and
women from this type of assault and violence, so I thank them for
that leadership as well.
But going forward, the critical thing is to make sure that we do
much, much better than we have done now, to learn what are the
changes that are going to be done within the Department of De-
fense, within legislation, to do a better job of protecting our men
and women.
At the end of the day, the culture needs to change. I have heard
a number of members talk about this. I forget who made this point,
but basically when it gets to the point where if you are serving in
the military, you know that your advancement in the military is
dependent upon protecting the men and women and being out front
to protect the victims and make it clear throughout your command
that this is completely unacceptable behavior that will be punished.
When everybody serving in the military knows that that is one
of the primary things that they are going to be judged on for ad-
vancement, when that cultural change is made, that is the only
point at which I believe we will begin to seriously address this
issue.
I hope we can learn more from this hearing today how we get
to that point. Again, I thank the chairman and I thank the gen-
erals for being here this morning. I look forward to the testimony
and the members’ questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith can be found in the Ap-
pendix on page 59.]
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.
4
At this time, without objection, I ask unanimous consent that an
additional statement from the Center for Military Readiness would
be included in the record of this hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on
page 181.]
The CHAIRMAN. I want to echo Mr. Smith’s comments about Gen-
eral Welsh and General Rice. They have been most helpful and
those who conducted the investigation, I couldn’t commend them
more for the seriousness with which they have taken this and for
the leadership that they have brought to this issue.
At this time, now, I understand we may have votes at any time,
so what I would like to do in the interest of trying to make sure
that we have time to properly conduct this hearing, if we just have
one vote on the rule, we will not break. We will ask the members
to go vote and keep moving so that we can expedite this.
We will hear from General Welsh, and he will divide the time up
between him and General Rice. General Welsh.
STATEMENT OF GEN MARK A. WELSH III, USAF, CHIEF OF
STAFF, U.S. AIR FORCE
General WELSH. Thank you, Chairman McKeon, Ranking Mem-
ber Smith, and distinguished members of the committee, for the op-
portunity to speak with you today. This topic is obviously a tough
one, but we don’t have to enjoy the subject to appreciate the privi-
lege of being before this committee. Thank you for the opportunity,
and General Rice and I are truly honored to be here.
Mr. Chairman, with your permission I would like to start by hav-
ing General Rice give you an update on the incident and allega-
tions and activities conducted relative to the basic military training
investigations at Lackland, and then I will follow that with a few
Service-wide things that we are doing to try and follow-up on ac-
tivities to learn from it and to do everything we can to ensure that
it never happens again.
The CHAIRMAN. Certainly.
STATEMENT OF GEN EDWARD A. RICE, JR., USAF, COM-
MANDER, AIR EDUCATION AND TRAINING COMMAND, U.S.
AIR FORCE
General RICE. Thank you, Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member
Smith, and distinguished members of the House Armed Services
Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on
the Air Force’s investigation into sexual misconduct by basic mili-
tary training instructors at our basic military training complex at
joint base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas.
Over the past 9 months we have conducted a very deliberate and
comprehensive investigation. Over 550 investigators have been in-
volved. They have conducted over 7,700 interviews. We have sur-
veyed every basic military training graduate from the last 10 years
for whom we have contact information. Although we have con-
ducted a 10-year lookback, the vast majority of the allegations are
of alleged misconduct that occurred over the past 3 years. During
this 3-year period, 855 airmen have been assigned to military
training instructor duty. Of this group of 855 instructors, we have
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completed disciplinary action for sexual misconduct against 8. We
have preferred court martial charges against another 9, and 15
other instructors are under investigation. The allegations against
these instructors range from sexual assault to the inappropriate
contact with students after they graduated from basic military
training and were no longer under the authority of the instructor.
At this point 24 of the military training instructors are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
We have identified 59 victims or alleged victims of this criminal ac-
tivity or misconduct. Regardless of whether a victim or alleged vic-
tim was the victim of a sexual assault, the recipient of an inappro-
priate email, or willingly participated in an unprofessional relation-
ship with an instructor in violation of established policy, we have
offered each of them the full range of available victim support serv-
ices and no victim or alleged victim has been charged with a policy
violation or otherwise held accountable as part of this investigative
process.
The 32 instructors who have been disciplined, or who are under
investigation, represent less than 4 percent of the instructors who
have served in basic military training over the past 3 years, and
I believe it is important to underscore that the vast majority of our
instructors serve with distinction in a very demanding duty assign-
ment.
That said, it is completely unacceptable to us that so many of our
instructors have committed crimes or violated our policies and we
clearly failed in our responsibility to maintain good order and dis-
cipline among too many of our instructors in basic military train-
ing.
Among the most important and fundamental responsibilities of
command is the requirement to maintain good order and discipline
among the members of the military organization. This responsi-
bility cannot be delegated. All of the changes we are making in
basic military training are directed in one way or another at help-
ing our commanders discharge this fundamental responsibility.
Although it is still very early, the evidence indicates that our ef-
forts are making a difference. We have not had a reported incident
of sexual misconduct in basic military training for the past 7
months. This is not to say that we believe we are nearing the end
of our work; on the contrary, we know this is not the beginning of
the end but the end of the beginning of a journey that can never
end. The key to success over the next weeks and months, and years
is to sustain the intense level of focus we have devoted to this issue
over the past 9 months.
To this end, I believe the most significant action we are taking
to address this critical issue is the establishment of the Recruiting,
Education, and Training Oversight Council. This council will in-
clude the senior leadership of my command and will, one, review
the progress and effectiveness of the actions we are now imple-
menting; two, provide an expanded perspective on future actions
we will take to prevent problems from recurring; and, three, advise
me on strategic issues affecting airmen safety and the maintenance
of good order and discipline in basic military training.
In short, this council will help us institutionalize the intense
level of focus we must sustain if we are to successfully defeat the
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threat of sexual misconduct in the basic military training environ-
ment.
I look forward to your questions after General Welsh’s remarks.
Thank you.
General WELSH. Thank you, Ed. And I completely agree that the
BMT [basic military training] investigations don’t mark the end of
anything. The Air Force has recommitted itself to ensuring that
every airman is treated with respect. It is not a one-time fix. It has
to be a way of life. This collection of events at basic military train-
ing has been stunning to most of us in the Air Force. There is sim-
ply no excuse for it. There is no justifiable explanation, and there
is no way we can allow this to happen again.
The Air Force’s goal for sexual assault is not simply to lower the
number. The goal is zero. It is the only acceptable objective. The
impact on every victim, their family, their friends, the other people
in their unit, is heart-wrenching, and attacking this cancer is a
full-time job, and we are giving it our full attention.
Of General Maggie Woodward’s 46 recommendations presented
to General Rice at the end of her investigation, 23 are already fully
implemented, 22 more will be implemented by November of this
year, and the final recommendation has actually been separated
from this particular activity. It has to do with shortening the
length of basic military training itself, and General Rice is consid-
ering that under a separate curriculum review that is already
under way.
Some of these recommendations have applicability to the entire
Air Force and we are working now to build them into the larger
Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program, into
our Air Force leadership training at every level, and into our inves-
tigative and legal processes.
Since becoming the Chief of Staff I have worked pretty hard to
express my deep concern with the issue of sexual assault, and I
have shared my thoughts with airmen at every level of our Air
Force. I have also shared it with every commander in our Air
Force. They understand, especially our senior commanders under-
stand, as both Ed Rice and I do, that the American people trust
us with their greatest treasures, their sons and daughters. They
expect us to lead them with honor, to value each of them, and to
treat them as if they were our own. We do not have a greater re-
sponsibility than that. Every Air Force supervisor, every Air Force
commander must be actively engaged in this effort. If they don’t
get actively engaged, I consider them part of the problem.
I met with our Air Force four-star generals in early October to
ensure they knew exactly how I felt about the subject. Not surpris-
ingly, they all feel the same. I directed all 164 of our Air Force
wing commanders to come to Washington, D.C. in late November
so that I could discuss this issue with them face-to-face. There is
simply no room for misunderstanding as we move forward from
here.
Secretary Donley approved an Air Force-wide health and welfare
inspection during the first 2 weeks of December. The intent was to
ensure that we provide every airman a work environment that al-
lows them to excel and to ensure each of them feels valued and is